Alius Terra
by Hunter Noventa
Summary: Self-Insert. Follows the game from the beginning of chapter 2 on. Rated for Violence and Strong Language. *Chapter 9 up*
1. Thunderous Entry

I do not own Final Fantasy Tactics or any of the characters within. Unless of course, you've never seen their names, that means I made them up. I only wish I could make money off of this.  
  
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The Playstation 2 start-up tone could be heard from the next room, where Hunter could hear it walking to the kitchen. He poured a bowl of chips and grabbed root beer out of the fridge door. On his way back to the living room, he grabbed a binder off the desk shelf. Since the disc was already in, the light piano tones of the introduction were pouring from the speakers on the floor. He hit start and loaded up his saved game, the new one just outside the first location. He thought _What else do I do on a snowday?_ It was probably the biggest snowday Rochester had ever seen. Quite literally twelve feet of snow had fallen in less than 3 hours last night. The plows couldn't even get out their garages, and apparently the workers had come out through the roves with heat guns trying to melt it down.

Of course, none of this mattered to Hunter, who was busy cursing out Algus for drinking his potions. "Stupid traitorous ass…" The room's lights would keep flickering every so often, so Hunter would save at every opportunity, to stave off the effects of a power failure. He had made it all the way to Fort Zeakden before it happened. The power surged and the TV exploded. The last thing Hunter remembered was his own yell of "Aw shit…"

Hunter felt rain on his head, stone under his back. Then voices. First a woman "Will he be alright?"

Then an older man, "Doesn't matter to me."

The woman again, "Shut up Gafgarion!"

A younger man spoke up, "I think he's waking up."

Hunter sat up looked around, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. He was about ready to faint again too. Around him stood two men and a woman, all in heavy armor. The woman has blue armor and eyes, and blond hair in a long braid. The older man bore a gray mustache and old brown armor. The young man also had blond hair and blue eyes, his armor was a dark blue, and one bit of hair refused to stay in place. He shook his head slowly.

"This…is impossible!"

The woman spoke up, "I'd have to agree with you. It's not every day a bolt of lightning deposits someone out of the sky."

Hunter blinked, "Lightning? Sky?"

The blond man nodded, "Yeah, lightning stuck hard right here, we came out and found you. Do you remember anything?"

"An explosion, there was an explosion. And…that's it."

Hunter had decided it would be better not to tell the truth. Because the truth was, he knew who all of them were, and everything that will happen to them. _I'm IN the game_ he thought, and didn't know what to do. Then the older man, Gafgarion spoke up.

"You got a name kid?"

He nodded, "I'm Hunter"

The woman stepped up, "I am Agrias, the uncouth mercenary is Gafgarion, and this boy is Ramza."

Ramza nodded his head, "Nice to meet you."

Gafgarion fidgeted, he was ready to move on, "Well, if we want to save the Princess, we had best get moving. I guess the church will take care of him."

Hunter stood and shook some of the rain off, "Wait, I'll go with you!"

Gafgarion grunted, "Can he fight?"

"I'm a fast study."

Ramza nodded, "I don't see why he can't, it's not like we're about to run out of swords." He motioned to the armored corpses around him. Most of them had a weapon of some sort or another. Hunter pried a Mythril Sword out the dead knight's hands, and made a few experimental thrusts with it.

He nodded, "This ought to do."

Gafgarion was already at the end of the path where it met the road to Dorter, "Good. Great. Let's go."

Agrias shouted to two young women to hurry up, and Ramza woke up a young man sleeping in the doorway. The six of them marched off the road towards Dorter Trade City.


	2. Dorter Skirmish

Alius Terra

Chapter 2

Dorter Skirmish

As usual, I don't own stuff unless you haven't seen it before. And I don't make money off of this.

The rain passed over the group as they traveled to Dorter, and soon they marched under clear skies. For the third time Hunter checked his pockets, same stuff as before, a couple quarters, a comb, and his watch. All he had, discounting the blade hanging at his side. _This is ass_ he thought, _doesn't look like I'll be going home, the only hope would be in Goug and even that's iffy_ A church spire became visible over the horizon, and Agrias spoke up,

"We're almost to Dorter, we should be ready for anything!"

Her trainees double-checked each other's equipment, and Gafgarion kicked Rad in the shin when he nearly tripped for the Nth time. Ramza simply loosened the clasp on his own sword and moved a little faster. The sun's glare hit them hard, and everyone shielded their eyes. Out of habit, Hunter reached into his vest for his sunglasses, and was surprised to find them still there. Agrias raised an eyebrow when he put them on.

"What are those?"

"They're sunglasses ma'am, keep your vision clear when the sun does this."

"Where did you get yours?"

"Wherever I came from."

"Oh, right."

They entered Dorter just in time to see a knight duck into an alley, and a cursing thief to call up some friends. Agrias grunted softly,

"Just what we wanted, shall we take care of this Gafgarion?"

The dark knight glared, "I don't usually do freebies, but why the hell not."

Ramza and Agrias ran forward, and Gafgarion started chanting. Hunter drew his borrowed blade and braced for battle, running up the street. About halfway, glowing roman numerals swirled around him, _Haste_ he quickly realized. And then he was about 3 yards from one of the archer girls. He flipped the blade in his hand to a reverse grip and charged at her. At the last minute he executed a stop and twirl to slash her across the torso, and she fell limp to the ground. He leapt back to where he had started his run, and saw Agrias cry out,

"Life is Short, Bury! Stasis Sword!"

The Etheric crystals fell on a still-chanting wizard, and the blue blade sprung from the ground, freezing him in his tracks. Ramza ran up to that wizard and sliced his robes clean off. That left the two thieves, an archer and a wizard. Gafgarion caught up with the group and held his sword in concentration, the energy orb of a Night Sword attack hovered over a thief, and with an upward jab the blade of dark energy caught him and ripped away his life. He crumpled to the ground. The enemy wizard gathered mana for his spell, and cried out

"Swirling bolts, gather and strike with power! Thundaga!"

Before Hunter could think about the disparity in spell names, his body convulsed from the blast of lightning. He stood up weakened, but alive. _Fucking Hell! That Really hurt!_ He ran right at that wizard, and did the same thing he had done to the archer. _That technique is gonna need a name…_ Hunter turned to see Rad pelting the other archer with stones, and Lavian rushing at her with her blade. The other woman's bow shattered in her hands, and Alicia dealt a second blow to take her down. The last thief looked around frantically, surrounded. Hunter was getting ready to rush him when a burst of energy knocked him out cold. Ramza had hit him with a Wave Fist. The group collected what money they could, and rested at the inn.

Hunter sat at the bar, slugging down milks as fast as the barkeep could keep them coming. Ramza took a seat next to him.

"You can't stand beer either?"

Between swallows, "Huh?"

"Milk. It's all I ever drink in these places myself."

"Ah, right, well, I don't really trust booze, and I need to think right now."

Heavy armor clunked down next to him, Agrias. "Have you remembered anything Hunter?"

_Ahhh, crap, do I tell them the truth, or do I try to come up with something, or wait it out. I'd better wait until Gafgarion is gone, this is something those Zodiac Bastards would love to know…_

"No ma'am, just an explosion, then waking up to you two and Gaffy."

They both blinked, and said "Gaffy?"

"Well, I think it suits him. Or else I'm just crazy."

Ramza shook his head, "Just don't call him that to his face, you're liable to get a Night Sword where the sun don't shine."

All of them laughed at that. And nursed their drinks for a few minutes. Finally, Agrias spoke up again,

"What do you know about the war Hunter?"

"Isn't it something about a really young prince supposedly not relay being the prince, and people trying to get him on the throne, and someone else wants to get the Princess on the throne?"

Agrias blinked, "Pretty good for having lost your memory."

"Personal memories, not knowledge ma'am."

She chuckled, "You don't have to be so formal Hunter, you were a good help in the street today. What was that thing you were doing?"

Ramza joined in, "Yeah, you ran at them and slashed them, and ran back! I've never seen someone move so fast!"

"Ah, I don't know, just came naturally, maybe I've got some fighting talent I never knew about. I call it the Reverse Slice. Though I may think of a better name later."

Hunter finished his milk, and didn't ask for another.

"I'm turning in, where are headed tomorrow?"

"We're going to Bethla Garrison, to get there we have to pass through Araguay Woods and over Zirekile Falls."

"All right then, thanks Agrias, g'night."

There we go, reviews and such appreciated etc etc…


	3. Araguay and Zirekile

Alius Terra 

Chapter 3 

Araguay and Zirekile 

Agrias pounded on the door of Hunter's room. 

"Get up! We move out!" 

Hunter dragged himself out of bed, and put his clothes back on. _Ugh, I'll have to get some new ones… he made a mental note to do so. He clipped on his sword belt and hurried downstairs. Everyone but Gafgarion was up and checking their equipment. _

"Hey Ramza, where's Gaffy?" 

"No idea, he was gone when I woke up." 

The door to the common room flew open, and Gafgarion walked in from the pouring rain. The bags under his eyes evidenced a lack of sleep. Agrias glared at him, 

"Where have you been?" 

"Gathering information, among other things. About a dozen people saw the boy Ramza and you saw go through here not long before we got here and fought." 

"And?" 

"It's as we thought, he's not wasting any time and heading right for Bethla." 

"Then we move out!" 

The rain cleared up by the time they reached Araguay Woods. As Hunter expected they ran into a chocobo being harassed by a group of goblins. Ramza decided to help it despite Gafgarion's protests. The battle didn't last long, Hunter was only able to slay a single goblin before the rest were gone. Agrias was able to Stasis Sword one of them while Gafgarion hit two with Night Sword. The chocobo was quite happy to have been rescued. 

"Wark!" 

Gafgarion turned to it, "You should be grateful!" 

Ramza approached it, "Hey, this is the same chocobo Delita was riding when he took Ovelia! It must have gotten too tired to carry them both!" 

Agrias nodded, "Good, that will slow them down. We just have to cross Zirekile falls to reach Bethla." 

They quickly found the Zirekile River, and followed it to the falls. And once there… 

"Delita! What are you doing!"? 

Delita and Princess Ovelia stood on the bridge, 3 knights on one side, 2 on the side of the bank the party was on. One of them yelled out, 

"Gafgarion! Kill them now!" 

"Not sure what's happening but it's in the contract. C'mon Ramza!" 

Agrias faced him, "Are you betraying us Gafgarion?" 

"Hey, business is business!" 

Ramza held his ground, "No! I won't be involved in any more wrongdoing! Delita! We're here to help!" 

Delita turned an eye to Ramza, "Since you're going to die, you might as well try!" 

Agrias moved up and hit the two close knights with stasis sword, one of them was stopped, and Ramza ran to hit the other one. Hunter ran up to Gafgarion and slashed him with a Reverse Slice. Alicia joined him in the assault and took Gafgarion down; he struggled up to his knees. 

"Crap! I'm hella outtie yo!" 

He vanished in a flash of light. Ovelia ran up the side of the falls and chanted softly, after Lavian tried to wade across the river, a burst of holy light erupted around her. _Mbarrier, of course. Delita ran at the knights, and cried out, _

"The Doom of a Planet! Crush Punch!" 

A red spike of energy erupted from the ground, and killed the unlucky knight outright. Rad moved partway onto the bridge, and kneeled, a burst of red energy flowed into him. _Accumulate. _

"Ramza! Good to see you again!" 

"Delita, you're alive!" 

"For the time! We can talk later, first we must do something about them!" 

"Right!" 

Ramza yelled at the top of his lungs, and Agrias was surrounded by a greenish cloud. _Always wondered what Yell would look like. She executed a second Stasis Sword on the stopped knight, and he fell. The one who survived the first attack was attacking Alicia furiously, but she managed to deflect his blows with her shield. Lavian moved close enough to attack a knight across the river, but at that moment, Ovelia screamed. Turning to look, everyone saw a pair of Ninjas advancing on her. __What the hell? There aren't any ninjas here! Agrias cried out, _

"Ovelia! Down here hurry!" 

Hunter held out his hand to hold her back, "There's no time! Get those knights! I'll handle this!" 

He held his hand to the sky and cried out, 

"Rage of the skies heed my call! Thunder Fury!" 

The Ninjas were too close to each other, and got hit by 3 Thunder spells in a row, killing them both. Hunter felt drained, and wondered aloud,

"How the hell did I do that?!" 

Agrias elbowed him, "Don't talk! Keep fighting!" 

The last knight was surrounded by Delita, Rad, and Lavian. He swung at Lavian, who parried, Rad threw a rock and he stumbled back, and Delita ran at him and impaled him in the torso with his sword. The knight coughed up blood, and slumped to the ground as Delita withdrew his blade. Agrias cried to Ovelia, 

"Princess! Are you all right?" 

"Yes Agrias!" 

"Good!" 

Minutes later, Ramza and Delita faced one another on the bridge, while Agrias and Hunter stood back, and Ovelia behind them. 

"Ramza, let her go, the Princess will be safer with me. 

Agrias took a step forward, "She stays with us!" 

"And where will you take her? The Hokuten will come here any minute looking for you. You don't have a choice." 

Delita turned to step away, "I'll leave the Princess with you a little longer." 

"Delita, what're you scheming?" 

"Nothing Ramza." 

"I'm, glad I could see you again." 

"Teta saved me. 

"What?" 

"Back then, Teta saved me. So long Ramza, we'll meet again. If you live that long." 

Delita left the scene, headed for Bethla. Ramza shook his head and turned to the other three. 

"He's right, where can we go?" 

Agrias thought for a moment and spoke up, "We'll head for Lionel, the Glabados Church has jurisdiction, and the Cardinal is a friend of the royal family. Plus he's neutral in the dispute between Larg and Goltana, I'm sure he'll help us." 

Hunter shook his head a bit, "Don't be too trusting, I've never trusted anyone associated with any religion myself." 

Agrias turned to him, "What are you? Some sort of atheist?" 

"No, I just prefer to find faith my own way. I don't want it forced onto me." 

Agrias shrugged, "Whatever, let's get moving, Lionel is several days from here." 

Everyone agreed, and they started for the South, to Zaland Fort City.

* * *

I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews. I plan to go with this as long as I can stand it. Suggestions are welcome as well.


	4. The Zaland Encounter

Alius Terra 

Chapter 4 

The Zaland Encounter 

* * *

The ground between the falls and Zaland Fort City was covered quickly. Approaching the wall, Hunter picked up on something. _Gunfire?_ _Oh right, Mustadio._ "Hey guys! Someone's in trouble!" Ramza looked up on the wall, 

"Hey! Someone's after him!" Agrias turned to him, 

"Should we help him?" 

"I don't want to get involved, but I can't just leave him. We fight! Eaagggh!" 

The opponents were more diverse than at Zirekile, 2 each of Knights, Wizards, and Archers. Ramza ran up to the wall and yelled at the blond man. Agrias closed in, but was too far to do much of anything. Rad thought fast and put on some Spike Shoes to scale the wall and throw a rock at a wizard. Alicia and Lavian both ran towards the gate. Hunter was able to climb up and over the wall to the other side, and unleashed a quick reverse slash to down the wizard Rad had hit with the stone. _This is almost too easy…_A blue flash from his right told him that the other wizard had gotten too close to Agrias, he turned to see him frozen in place. Two faint twangs were overshadowed by the sudden pain in Hunter's leg and Alicia's cry of anguish. _Oh hell! That's more painful than it looks!_ A limping step sent him to the ground, and he struggled to parry the flurry of blows coming from a knight. Lavian pulled the arrow from Alicia's shoulder and handed her friend a potion. Rad threw himself at the second knight that was headed for Hunter, and Mustadio cried out 

"Who are you?" 

Ramza turned to him, "We're here to help!" 

"That's obvious, but why?" 

"We felt like it!" 

Ramza reeled around and impaled the archer running at him, and said a brief prayer as he withdrew his blade. Mustadio fired at the Knight that was reeling from Rad's tackling, and his arms fell limp. Hunter kicked the knight wailing on him and managed to struggle to his feet, but the knight swung his sword before he could raise his own to block. Hunter closed his eyes, and heard the blade hit…another blade? Agrias was right there! She'd blocked the enemies' blow for him, and Hunter took that opportunity to slide his sword in a gap of the knight's armor. He didn't even pull it out before he fell down, mumbling, 

"Oh…my…goddess…" [A/N One WILD guess!] 

Twenty minutes later, he was sitting in a bed, leg bandaged, still mumbling a bit. Agrias was at the door, telling people to leave him alone. He shook his head and looked to her, 

"What happened?" 

Agrias turned, relief in her eyes. She closed the door and pulled the room's chair next to him. "You've never killed before, have you?" 

"N…no, even back in Dorter, that archer was only unconscious…" 

"A first kill is tough on anyone, even me." 

"I don't want to kill anyone again, ever." 

Agrias shook her head, "You'll probably have to, we're not out of the woods yet, and we can't have anyone breaking down like this on the battlefield." 

"I realize that, but uhhh, I think I kind of remember something." 

She raised a blond eyebrow at that one, "Oh? What?" 

"Where I came from, killing, war, and even monarchies were pretty much looked down upon, I don't remember why, but, killing, the way I had to, it's just so damn foreign to me…" 

"A place where people live in peace? With no deaths by the hands of others? Sounds like a fantasy to me." 

"I didn't say that there weren't murders or wars, I'm…not sure if there are or not, but there probably are." 

She shrugged, "Hmph, whatever. You going to be ready to go? We'll have to get out of here soon." 

"I think my leg is all right, stings a bit but I'll be fine." 

"Good, don't want you whining like Alicia." 

Hunter thought she might have had something else to say, but she quickly got up and left, like she had been insulted by an invisible man. Hunter

shook his head, clambered out of bed. Running downstairs, he found the rest of the party ready to go out side, and off to Bariaus Hill they did go.


	5. Camping is Fun!

Alius Terra

Chapter 5 – Camping is Fun!

The sun set with the group only halfway to Bariaus Hill. Mostly due the continued whiny demands of one Princess Ovelia. While everyone else was setting up camp, she sat down to pull leaves from her hair. Hunter overheard Ramza's mutterance of

"What an annoying Princess…"

And nearly fell down laughing, remembering that Delita said the same thing when he kidnapped her, at least, he did in the game. That was annoying Hunter, the discrepancies between the game and well, the world. The ninjas at the falls, the incredible annoyance that the Princess was. And how, not cold, Agrias seemed to be. As the sun burned away behind the hills, Lavian started the fire with some magic, Hunter perked an eyebrow, she must have been training while they traveled. Rad was stuck as waiter, and passed out some rations and drinks, the latter of which everyone promptly spat out. Hunter coughed,

"What the hell is this, some kind of solvent?"

Agrias pounded her chest to open the airway, and rasped, "I don't want to know what he put in this!"

Ramza just glared at Rad, "Rad, did you use the holey leaves again?"

Rad gulped and nodded, and Agrias looked to the nearly-twin knights,

"Get him girls!"

Lavian and Alicia chased him down, tripped him, and poked him with sticks, pointy ones. Mustadio appeared out of the woods, carrying a rabbit with a smoking hole in it,

"Look! Meat!"

Hunter looked up, "But do you have any Potatoes?"

"Huh?"

Hunter imitated Samwise Gamgee and said it, "Poe-tayt-toes."

Mustadio shook his head, and Hunter looked back down at the bits of dried fruit on the plate. The 'solvent' had taken away his appetite, so he stepped up and headed for a small brook they had crossed before making camp. Agrias watched him leave, and followed a moment later, no one said anything to either of them.

The moon's reflection vanished and reformed as Hunter dipped his hands in the water, he drank some, then scooped more to rinse his face off. _How do people here stay as clean as they do? Ah, whatever._ Something snapped, and his developing combat reflexes kicked in, because he found himself whirled around with a hand on his blade.

"Whoa Hunter! It's just me, Agrias."

Hunter settled down, and she came to sit beside him. "Why did you follow me?"

"I wanted to talk with you."

"Okay, so talk."

"There's still something bothering you I think Hunter, I thought you were over the shcok of your first kill."

"Oh I am Agrias, but you're right, something is bugging me…"

"You want to talk about it?"

He turned he head to hers, "I don't know, because it's very important information, and if it got into the wrong hands, bad things could happen."

Agrias slowly nodded, and withdrew her sword, stabbing the tip into the ground. "I swear on my honor as a Holy Knight that I shan't tell another soul, if you decide to tell me what troubles you."

Hunter scooted away from her a bit, _This is so damned odd…_, but at this point, he had to trust her.

"All right, put that away and get comfortable, this could take a while…" He paused, choosing his words like the answers of an AP test. "Agrias, I've been lying to you guys all this time, I do remember where I came from, and it's not Ivalice."

She just stared at him.

"You said yourself that there's a supposed ancient civilization under Goug, far more advanced than current time, where I come from, it's even more advance than that place was. You see, to me, Ivalice and every person place or thing in it is nothing more than fiction. A… special kind of story where you can take control. So I know everything that's going to happen to you, Ramza, Ovelia, even your troops and Rad."

She shook her head and grabbed his shoulders, "Hunter snap out of it! You must have drunk too much of that sutff!"

He just shook his head and remover her hands from his shoulders, "No, it's absolutely true, and what sucks, is I can't even tell you what will happen, because if I do and you change your actions, all my other knowledge is voided."

"Can you at least tell me if her Highness will be all right?"

"Oh, Miss Ovelia Snootskha will be fine. But that's all I can say."

Agrias bowed her head, "If what you say is true, then you will have my gratitude."

Hunter just gave a smile, "It is true, I swear on my honor as a…uh…whatever the hell I am I guess. Whatever honor you see that I have I guess."

Agrias laughed, which was a soft pleasant sound Hunter hadn't expected from her.

"You know Agrias, you're a lot different from the way the story shows you."

She looked up, "Oh really?"

"Yeah, you're shown as kind of bitch in there. But you're a decent person, with a sense of humor as good as your honor. And you're a lot prettier than they want you to believe."

She turned away, in the dark it was hard to tell, but Hunter thought he saw red in her cheeks.

"Me? Pretty?"

"Well yeah, I mean, you're hard to see under all that armor, but you've got… a very lovely face. Not as lovely as the Princess, but your personality makes up for that."

"Because I'm not a whiny little brat?"

"Ha ha! Yes, exactly! Can't wait to get rid of her right?"

"I wish I could! My duty is to guard her until she takes the throne. Which could be a very long time at this rate."

"Don't sweat it, you'll be rid of her sooner than you think, but you'll both be fine."

"Okaaayyy… what about you Hunter? What will you do when we reach Lionel? Will you ask the Cardinal to help you find a way home?"

"No, other than the killing, I'm actually having a better time here than I usually did back home."

"Really…how odd…"

The moon had moved so that only half of it was reflected on the water.

"We ought to head back Agrias, they'll think we're making out or something."

She laughed, "Yes let's go."

Big Thanks to all who reviewed. I've got the week off so I may even get another chapter up before then.


	6. Goodbyes and Helloes

Alius Terra

Chapter 6

Goodbyes and Helloes

The lowest part of the Bariaus Hill system loomed ahead, and Hunter tried to recall what this battle would entail. _Knights, Summoners, and something else, but it's those summoners we need to worry about…_ He moved next to Agrias and whispered to her,

"Agrias, there's an ambush up ahead, they're looking for Mustadio and it'll be a bit rough cause they'll have a pair of summoners. Get yourself ready and warn Ramza, just don't give me away."

She nodded and jogged up to the front of the line , where Ramza and Mustadio were talking.

"I still say science is a great force!"

"But Mustadio, you must keep some faith in something!"

"Ahem, excuse me boys."

They stopped and turned to Agrias, who motioned to the cleft in the hill ahead.

"I've seen some men moving though the woods, I think they intend to ambush us there. I also caught sight of a summoner's horn, let's be on guard!"

The men nodded, and the sun reached it's peak over their heads. Ramza caught a twin glint of knight armor on the hill, and called the party to arms. Lavian cracked her knuckles, and checked that she had an ether on her belt. Alicia had donated her old armor to Rad, since she was now a monk and he a knight by training if not title. Upon reaching the hill, one of the knights called out to the group.

"Hold! You have the one we are searching for with you! Hand him over and you'll live!"

Ramza drew his blade, "Mustadio is our friend, if you're from Bart Company you can tell him to piss off!"

The knight arched an eyebrow, "He told you that much? That was a mistake Mustadio, now they all have to die too."

He made a motion with his arm, and two summoners and two archers moved in from the woods edge. The group readied their respective weapons, and charged. Chaos ensued rather quickly, Lavian hit the two archers with her Fire spell, Alicia hit one with a Wave Fist while Rad clumsily swung at the other, the new armor being ill-fitting and bulky. The enemy summoners ran forward, incantations already spewing from their lips. Ramza and Mustadio ran to take on one of them, Hunter nodded to Agrias and they charged at the one on the opposite side together. The two knights above closed on the trio near the archers and the combat went bloody fairly fast, luckily Alicia whipped out the Chakras like there was no tomorrow. Mustadio had immobilized their summoner while Ramza attacked her. Agrias got lucky and Stopped the one on their side with a Stasis Sword. Hunter ran up, and held his blade like Squall holds his gunblade, and cried out

"Raging spirit, shock the soul! Blast Jab!"

An aura of lightning covered the blade, and he ran it through the summoner's shoulder just as she recovered from the Stop from Agrias earlier, only to Stop her again, Agrias quickly ran in to deal the killing blow to her. The pair nodded at each other and scaled the hill to aid the trio. It didn't take too long after that, even though Ramza was too slow to stop their summoner from spurting out between bloody coughs

"Wind, fade to silence and light, give us power! Shiva!"

And nearly freezing Mustadio to death, and Rad's clumsiness came in handy when he accidentally broke an bow of a charging archer rather than slice him. Again, they took what money and unsoiled equipment there was. And turned to the Southwest, where the flag of Lionel castle could be made out over the horizon. Without a word, they picked up their march, they all felt that more enemies weren't far behind.

Three hours of forced marching put Lionel Castle before them, Agrias sent Rad, Lavian, and Alicia to secure lodgings, while she and Ovelia were joined by Hunter, Ramza and Mustadio. They approached the gate and a guard called out,

"Halt! Who goes there?"

Agrias stepped forward, "I am Agrias Oaks of the Lesalia Saint Konoe knights, I came from Orbonne to save the son of god, Saint Ajora, please let us through!"

The knight made a gesture to someone on the other side, "Saving the son of god is the will of the high priest, the gate will open for those who aid in his will!"

The gate ground upward, and they came into the castle. A pair of Knights escorted them to the Cardinal. The five of them bowed before explaining the situation to Draclau.

The Cardinal listened and nodded, "Very well, I will send messages to Larg and Goltana. Plus the High Priest shall hear of this. In the meantime, you may stay here until word returns.

Agrias bowed her head, "Thank you your grace."

Draclau turned to Mustadio, "I also heard your wish, young engineer, troops will be sent to rout Bart Company. But I would care to know why they are after you…"

Mustadio paled a little, "I…can't tell you."

"I understand, is it something to do with this?"

The cardinal pulled a red crystal from his robes, and Mustadio paled further. Ramza turned to him, "You okay?"

Mustadio nodded, and turned to the Cardinal, explaining how his father had found the stone, and that Bart Company wanted to use it's power for weapons.

"Hey Musty, we'll go to Goug with you!"

"Thank you Ramza."

Agrias turned to Hunter, "What are you going to do?"

"I'll go to Goug with Ramza and Mustadio. Hey, can we borrow Lavian and Alicia?"

Agrias nodded, "Stay safe, Hunter.

"You too Agrias."

They rounded up the trio in town, and headed for the swamp west of Lionel. Hunter had been trying to get some healing magic down, he knew what was ahead. What looked like a hunk of metal streaked into the air from the swamp ahead, and it came down in a curve.

"What the?"

"What is it Hunter?"

"Someone fighting it looks like!"

"Let's go, come on Mustadio!"

They ran up to the swamp to see a man in ice blue armor fighting off a group of skeletons and ghouls. He screamed out something and twirled his spear overhead, jabbing into the ground to release a wave of ice. He twirled to face them at the sound of Mustadio's gun ringing out, and nodded. Ramza gave an order to charge and they all joined the fray. Hunter focused his energy on the unknown warrior, and chanted out,

"Life's Refreshing Breeze, heal from the sky! Cura!"

The sparkles of life-giving energy floated down, the warrior stood up straighter and the skeleton beside him crumpled into a heap. Alicia pummeled a ghoul into nothing DBZ-style with Repeating Fist. Mustadio kept missing with attempts to seal, while Ramza and the warrior mounted a joint effort on another skeleton. Lavian was taking great joy from repeatedly casting Fire on a poor ghoul. Hunter laid into the last skeleton left unengaged with a Blast Jab, but he wasn't stopped. A ball of energy rose from it and shot into Hunter, his muscles spasmed from the shock and he fell to the ground twitching. Mustadio finally sealed a skeleton in stone, and it was the one about to stomp on Hunter's head. He kicked the fresh statue over into the putrid muck, and watched it slowly sink. By the time he scrambled to his feet, the last skeleton had been dispatched. He, Ramza, and Mustadio approached the blue armored man, who nodded.

"Thank you for your aid."

"Don't mention it, what's your name?"

"I am known as Trent, Frost Knight."

Mustadio raised an eyebrow "Frost Knight?"

"Yes, from Romanda. You people seem to know where you're going, mind if I tag along?"

Ramza nodded, "Not a problem, I'm Ramza, the blonde is Mustadio, this guy's Hunter, the girls are Lavian and Alicia, and the klutz is Rad."

"Great, where are we going?"

"We're headed off to Goug."

Trent nodded and strapped his spear to his back. The group marched onward, reaching Goug about an hour before sunset.

I think that's longer. It certainly took longer. Anyway, Reviews are of course appreciated. 


	7. The Plot Clots

Alius Terra

Chapter 7

The Plot Clots

Hunter sipped his milk at the bar, while Trent guzzled down a beer. He asked the Frost Knight about Romanda.

"Yeah, Romanda, very cold."

"Just across from Zeakden right?"

"Yeah, I actually passed that place on the way here, looked really messed up."

"That's because it exploded."

They turned to see Ramza enter the bar with Rad. He took a seat next to Hunter and ordered a milk for himself. Hunter took a sip of his and watched a group of dancers enter before turning to Ramza.

"Where's Mustadio?"

"He said he wanted to check things out himself, I came to get a quick drink and to bring you guys."

"Got a bad feeling?"

"You know it, let's get out of here." Ramza plunked some coins onto the bar and the four of them walked to the slums. Ramza told his friends to stay back and walked up. He mumbled to himself and caught a raindrop. A sickly voice came from the shadows.

"Are you the boy's friend?"

Ramza turned to see an ill-looking man come into the dim light.

"You, you're his friend aren't you? Where's the Stone?"

"Stone?"

"Don't play dumb, bring him!"

A thief brought Mustadio out, and he bowed his head to Ramza, apologizing.

"You must be Rudvich! Let Mustadio go!"

"Give me the stone!"

Mustadio looked at Rudvich, "He doesn't have it you idiot!"

The thief kicked Mustadio, and Rudvich waved his hand, a second thief brought in an older man, and Mustadio's head went up with a start.

"Father!"

"Mustadio, don't give them the stone!"

The thief kicked Besrodio into the abandoned home as thunder cracked across the sky. Mustadio told where the stone was, and Ramza threw it to Rudvich.

"Finally! The Cardinal will be pleased. Kill them!"

Two archers and two summoners came from behind Rudvich as he left, and Ramza whistled for his comrades. Trent ran up, spear ready, while Hunter and Rad had their hands on their swords. Trent vaulted up into the air, landing on a summoner moments later while Hunter swung at an archer and missed. The other archer blew a kiss at Rad, and he tried to break Lavian's armor. Hunter yelled at her to hit him while he took the archer he had missed before down. Ramza, Mustadio, and Alicia took on the pair of thieves while Trent jabbed at the summoner he had pounced on earlier. Rad tried to reach the other summoner, but was too late because,

"Master of creation, impart thy help! Ramuh!"

The sorcerer coalesced overhead, amplifying the surrounding lightning to electrocute Rad, Ramza, and Trent. As they recovered they joined the rain of steel clashing upon the last of their foes.

"Father!"

"Mustadio!"

"You're all right!"

Besrodio rose to his feet with Mustadio's help. Ramza, Hunter, and Trent came in after disposing of the bodies. Besrodio was shaking his head,

"Why did you give them the stone Mustadio?"

"Ha ha, I'm not dumb dad, that one was a fake! I've still got the real one!"

Hunter stepped forward, "I hate to impose on you two, but we need transport to Warjilis immediately!"

"What? Why?"

Ramza's head snapped up, "Of course! Agrias and Ovelia are still in danger! You heard Rudvich, the Cardinal is after the stones!"

Trent scowled, "So he might use those two friends of yours as bait?"

"Right! We need to second-guess him, and get around the back of the castle, from Warjilis via Bariaus valley!"

Besrodio nodded "I can get you a ship, I owe all of you my life."

"Ramza! I'll come with, I'm not about to stay here and choke to death on smoke!"

Ramza nodded, "All right, we leave for Warjilis on the next boat! Let's move!"

The sun shone over the port of Warjilis Trade City. Ramza had his comrades check out the town before he emerged himself. While he was side tracked by Delita, the rest of the party went shopping. At the weapons store hunter noticed something,

"Ooooh! Katanas…"

He bought one and kindly paid the shopkeeper, and walked to another shop to get himself a new coat. Before he left the shop, he spied a small piece of jewelry, a Thor's Hammer. He held it up to the woman at the counter.

"How much for this?"

She waved, "You bought that coat, I never thought I'd get rid of it, you can have that trinket!"

Hunter paid his thanks, and rejoined the party at the inn. The entire party was sitting around the fire, chit-chatting. Hunter took a seat next to Ramza.

"Ramza, I'm going to check out the valley, I'd like for you guys to stay here and wait."

"Why are you going alone? We should all go."

"Trust me Ramza, it's no problem. I need some time alone anyway. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Do what you want then, we can wait a day I guess."

Agrias ran swiftly, leaving boot prints in the mud. Her pursuers weren't far behind, and it was still several miles to Warjilis. Not to mention the steadily increasing downpour. Reaching the split in the deepening valley, she stopped to catch her breath, only to hear a cry of

"Here she is!"

She tried to run but slipped on the mud, twisting around in time to see her foes emerge from the thin woods. Six of them, evenly split among Knight, Archer and Wizard. She bowed her head, it seemed hopeless. Thunder roared, and was followed by the scream of a dying wizard across the river, she and the rest whipped their view to see a shadowed figure wrestling a katana with the archer, trying not to trip over the slain wizard. Agrias drew her blade and screamed.

"Absorb power in the sky and strike! Lightning Stab!"

The energy shiv pierced the wizard nearest her, leaving him shaking his fist in silent fury. The knights and archer finally moved towards her while the archer across the water fell to the shadowed figure. It leaped across the stone and cried out, in a voice all to familiar to Agrias,

"Your end comes with this bolt! Thunder Omega!"

The figure held the Katana straight up in front of him, tiny specks of ball lightning swirling about it. He drew back the blade, and the specks retreated into it. With a quick thrust a ball of lightning shot at the two knights, swirling and expanding. The pair stood frozen until it exploded in a blinding chorus of energy. Their forms crumpled to the ground, smoking. Agrias threw a cry of "The devil's spirit of restlessness... Split Punch!" to end the life of the wizard, and the figure joined her to eliminate the last archer.

She looked at him apprehnsively, and spoke.

"Hunter?"

Hunter pulled off the cheesy hood and threw it in the river, "Off Course!"

Agrias laughed weakly, exhausted from the chase and the battle. She started to fall. But Hunter caught her, helped her up, and the two walked back to Warjilis.

Off Course I made another Chapter! You think I were sick? Ha! Stay tuned for next time! And remember, your swords, as shiny as they may be, are powerless against the spider's wrath!

[/randomness] 


	8. Return of the Interloper

Alius Terra

Chapter 8

Return of the Interloper

[A/N]- After an insane hiatus, I have returned. To steal a bit from Calvin and Hobbes, creativity isn't just a faucet. I haven't been inspired to write much lately and real life sucks. Oh crap, I'm starting to sound like Piro. *throws the story at you and vanishes in a puff of smoke, screaming NINJA VANISH!*

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Water flowed down the gutters of Warjilis into the sea. Two drenched figures slowly made their way through the streets, taking shelter where they could. Lighting pierced the sky in the distance, indifferent to their quasi-struggle...

Waves of water washed down the window of the Prancing Drunk Inn, and shrewd mockery of the still calm oceans beyond the docks. Ramza sat at the window, staring into oblivion when something smacked him in the back.

"What the...Trent!"

The Frost knight stood chuckling, after the non-business end of his spear caught the leaders' attention.

"Yo Ramza, have a little fun!"

Ramza shook his head "Can't party. Worried."'

"What? Bout Hunter? The guy can take care of himself ya know!"

"It's no that, he must be stuck in this storm somewhere, he didn't take any money to get a inn in another part of town."

Again lightning flashed, illuminating the rather amusing game of strip poker between Alicia, Lavian and Mustadio. The poor engineer had already lost his gun belt, shirt, and a shoe. And if that pair of 2's had anything to say about it, that wouldn't be all he lost. Rad sat in a corner pretending to sleep, half an eye on the poker game. Ramza and Trent both turned as the doorknob turned with a solid clunk. Two disheveled fools stumbled in a boy with auburn hair and a cloak, and a blonde woman in heavy armor.

"Hunter! Agrias? What happened?"

Rad and Alicia rushed to the Holy Knight's aid and helped her up the stairs to a warm bed. Hunter practically fell onto a stool and Lavian ran to make some hot tea. He just rested for a moment until the tea sounded off, and took a drink before Lavian disappeared up the steps too. Finally, he spoke to his friends.

"Like I said, I went to check out the valley, had to know what to expect. Then I heard armored people running, and saw Agrias being chased by Lionel troops. She fell and twisted an ankle, but we still managed to fight them off." He took another drink of the tea Lavian had left. "After that we managed to limp back here, and here we are."

Trent and Ramza just sort of stared at him, and Ramza broke the silence with a hammer. "What aren't you telling us Hunter?"

He smirked slightly, chuckling to himself. "All right, I guess I owe you guys an explanation..." And proceeded to tell them everything he told Agrias the night before they reached Bariaus Hill. "... so the real reason I went off to the valley was to see if I could set up some kind of mantraps for the troops that would be chasing her. I just didn't expect to ah... trigger, the battle, as it were."

Trent had fallen half asleep, and Ramza seemed lost in thought. Then he spoke "Well, we should let Agrias rest for now. But what's our next move, the Cardinal has to be onto us to some degree."

Hunter nodded, "Aye, that he is. If memory serves, he's going to have Ovelia executed at the nearby Execution Grounds. If we leave as soon as Agrias is healthy, we should make it in time."

Ramza prodded Trent, and gave his orders "Trent, Musty! Let's get some rest, we leave as soon as Agrias recovers for the Execution Grounds!"

Everyone moped their way upstairs, not exactly thrilled at the thought of another hard fight...

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Scant rays of sunlight penetrated the clouds over Golgorand. Four knights stood watch over the secret execution. The cloaked executioner spoke to Ovelia, who stood on the platform, ready to be disemboweled.

"Any last words?"

As Ovelia shook her head, a bolt of lightning struck just beside the executioner, and the generator of that lightning yelled out.

"How about, it's a trap?"

Ramza, Hunter and Agrias approached the platform from the East, while Alicia and Lavian come under the arch from the North. The executioner merely chuckled, throwing aside his cloak and drawing his red blade, he revealed himself as Gaff Gafgarion. He whistled for his backup, and archer and two time mages while Ovelia threw off her dress and pulled a bow from one of the supports.

Gaffy just sneered, "So, you figured out it was a trap eh? You're getting better Ramza."

"I have a decided advantage Gafgarion! En Garde!"

With that, Ramza drew his blade and the battle was joined. The time mages began their Haste chants, the archers fell back and the knights advanced to a front line. Ramza charged at Gafgarion, their blades sang an erratic song of steel in the scattered morning light. Brandishing his new katana, Hunter charged a knight and slashed him upwards across the chest, and twirled around to impale him on the blade. The follower of Glabados slunk to the ground, writhing in bloody agony. _Double Reversal, biotch!_ Agrias drew on teh energies around her, glad to know that her opposition to the church had not reduced her Holy Knight skills...

"Heaven's wish to destroy all minds...Holy Explosion!"

The wave of white searing light ripped across the battlefield, twisting the flesh of a nearby knight and a distant archer. Alicia manged a similar feat by hitting two knights with a single Earth Slash, while her pal Lavian started to call upon magical energies. Ramza and Gafgarion's deadly dance continued, unabated by the words between them.

"Come back to Igros Ramza! Your brother Dycedarg said he'd forgive you!"

"Bullshit Gaff! I'll have no part of his scheming!"

Agrias turned her attention from sending waves of holy death at their foes long enough to yell, "Ramza? I didn't know you were a Beoulve!"

Gaff parried a rather nasty blow from Ramza before calling out, "Of course? Didn't you know?"

"Agrias! I had nothing to do with the kidnapping! I swear it!"

"I believe you Ramza!"

Of course all around this, the rest of the battle raged. Hunter's wild attacks had downed another knight, and seriously wounded an archer. The other was a smoldering heap thanks to a Fira from Lavian, and Alicia was grappling with another knight after shattering his blade. Ramza finally landed a telling blow of Gafgarion, putting him to the ground.

"Aw fuck! Next time I won't go easy on you! VANISH!"

Ramza cried out in fury, but turned his attention to a Time Mage who was slowly chanting not far from him.

"Revenge with dark-evil spell! Demi!"

The dark energy ripped at Ramza's being, pulling and pushing his insides to places they weren't meant to be, leaving him injured as well as winded. A belated Lightning Stab brought the mage down, and with her the battle. Everyone was tired and hurt, and Hunter's Cure spells weren't quite enough. Ramza leaned on his sword to address his troops.

"We head for Lionel castle at first light. Alicia, Lavian, you two get some rest. I'm going to take Hunter, Agrias, Trent, and Rad in there."

Hunter stepped up and wiped sweat from his forehead, "It IS a trap there Ramza. The Princess is already gone by all counts, but we have to go. Make sure you can cure your own wounds for the battles within, okay?"

"Right Hunter, you'd make a good strategist..."

The group retreated from Golgorand, and set up a camp in the hills surrounding Lionel. Waiting for dawn to make their strike...

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Well, I hope that's a good comeback for all of you. For the curious, here's everyone's abilities as of now-

Ramza- Guts, Battle Skill, HP Restore, Attack UP, Move +1

Hunter- Slice (this will be explained), White Magic, Speed Save, Magic Defend UP, Jump +1

Agrias- Holy Sword, Item, Counter Tackle, Move +1

Trent- Frost Magic, Jump, Counter Tackle, Ignore Height

Mustadio- Snipe, Item, Throw Item, Defense Up, Move-Find Item

Alicia- Battle Skill, Punch Art, Weapon Guard, Move Hp Up

Lavian- Battle Skill, Black Magic, Weapon Guard, Move Hp Up

Rad- Basic Skill, Yin-Yang Magic, MP Switch, magic attack Up, Move Mp Up

Have fun, the next chapter won't take nearly as long, I guarantee it!


	9. The Finer Points of Bad Religion

Alius Terra

Chapter 9

The Finer Points of Bad Religion

The walls of Lionel Castle, dulled to a light brown with the passage of years, loomed over Hunter, Agrias, Trent and Rad. The sun shone brightly overhead, unaware of the catastrophes happening under it's light. Hunter was feeling particularly uneasy, after all, he knew they were about to walk into another trap, but he couldn't tell everyone, and he knew the enemies' armament, but could only procure enough Rubber to insulate himself and Agrias. Boots could be heard on the top of the wall, and Ramza poked he head out over the battlements.

"Wait there, I'll open the gate!"

"You'd like to do that wouldn't you!"

Ramza whirled around, as the ever-annoying Dark Knight stepped into view. he grumbled about another trap as Gaffy whistled, calling his cohorts on the other side of the gate. The exact force hunter expected ran up, weapons ready. Gaffy pointed at Ramza in a rather corny fashion and yelled,

"Ramza! It is me you must fight! En garde!"

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The clashing of steel and dark energy could be readily heard from beyond the gate, but Hunter and friends had their own issues. A first wave of arrows and blades was easily fended off by him and Agrias, being immune to their lightning-based weapons made them nigh invincible. Then the summoners put their art to work, the icy maiden Shiva showed no mercy. Then the battle was truly joined. Trent held his spear out behind him in a batter's position as he charged a knight, screaming a strange battle cry.

"The cold spares no one... Tsunami Ice!"

And swung his spear like a massive blade, which had become, coated in ice and cleaving a knight in two. Agrias called out to the divine around her, and several blasts of lightning struck around a poor summoner, robbing him of his magic. Rad parried a blow from another knight, trying to concentrate long enough to cast a spell of silence on the other summoner. Hunter's blade clashed with the last knight's, he ducked, weaved and parried, unable to penetrate the knight's offense long enough to strike a telling blow. Sparks flew as the swords struck, and there Hunter saw a way to get the upper hand. In a crazed swing, he rant he edge of his blade along her helm, sending sparks flying into his foe's eyes, and his foe staggering back. Hunter charged at her, his katana dragging in the dirt, and leaped up, slashing his blade clean through her. The air around her exploded into tiny balls of lightning as she slumped to the ground, dying. He landed next to the corpse, dazed. _What the fuck? Did I just do Rough Divide? That can't be right!_

"Hunter! Look out!"

Rad's warning was almost too late, Hunter jumped aside just in time to avoid an Earth Slash from an angered archer. _Must have killed his girlfriend..._ The archer was getting ready for another, when Trent's spear pierced through his chest. from across the wall, Ramza cried for help. Trent nodded at Hunter and leaped into the air. Finally Rad mustered the energy for a spell he rather liked, and cast it on a poor summoner.

"Reason with confusion, judge with recklessness! Brave Insanity!"

A red aura of pure rage engulfed the summoner, and he charged at Agrias waving his staff wildly. She quickly withdrew her sword from the other summoner's corpse, and braced herself as the crazed magi ran himself right onto it. The gate rose, and Ramza and Trent stepped out, Gafgarion's mangled body lying in the courtyard. Ramza beckoned his friends, calling,

"We must hurry!"

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"Ramza! It is me you must fight! En garde!"

With that cry, Gafgarion ran forward, calling upon the powers of the nether regions to drain Ramza of his life with his feared Night Sword. Ramza staggered a bit, thrown slightly off guard, but as soon he regained his composure, Ramza flipped off of the high wall, and crashed down onto Gafgarion with his sword, slicing a deep wound into the older man's shield arm. He dropped the shield and held his blade back, gauntlet on it's tip, and thrust it forward.

"A small price to pay... Dark Wave!"

A massive wave of black energy slammed into Ramza, but it also seemed to aggravate Gaffy's wound. Ramza shook his head and charged, screaming.

"You'll never win if you do that Gaffy!"

Ramza's charge surprised Gaffy, still dazed from his own attack. He tried to block, but his wounded arm moved too slow for his own good, and Ramza struck, shattering his shield into a thousand gleaming pieces of mythril.

"So I'm not the only one with new tricks huh?"

Ramza merely glared, and launched himself at Gaffy again. But the Dark Knight was ready, having been drawing in dark power since his shield broke, and he struck.

"A thousand evils within my blade, Darkside!"

A deep purple aura covered the man's sword and he almost casually swung it at the charging hero. At the point of the hit, everything went into polarized vision for Ramza, and reverted to normal as an explosion of unholy power threw him at the wall. Ramza called for help, at the same time trying to summon the ki to restore his own life. A moment later, a streak of blue metal came from the sky and crushed Gafgarion. Trent stood next to the dying man, watching him cough up his own lifeblood.

"Ugh... is this the end...?"

Ramza stood, shaking his head slowly, "Goodbye Gafgarion." and pulled the switch to open the gate. He and Trent walked out to find everyone else in fairly god shape, and waved for them.

"We must hurry!"

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The party drank their potions on the run, searching all parts of the ancient castle for any sign of the Princess. Dozens of empty rooms, as if the entire garrison had simply vanished, greeted them. Finally they came to a small chapel, built next to the dungeons. The Cardinal awaited within.

"So... I guess Gafgarion's not as good as his boasting. You are indeed good, even for a bastard, however..."

The Cardinal circled the altar slowly while continuing to speak.

"I won't have you interfering any longer, hand over the stone."

Ramza shook his head, "Where is the Princess?"

Draclau merely chuckled "What, you think you can help her? She doesn't need you, for she chose our help over yours."

Agrias gasped, "You lying son of a..."

"The Princess is thinking for herself now, dear knight. With her help, we can change the world. Something you can't understand."

Ramza retorted, "You think I want to change the world? I'm not that reckless!"

"Ah ha, so you say, but yet you hold the Stone, you can change anything with it's power, allow me to show you..."

The Cardinal pulled the Scorpio stone from his robes. It flashed an eerie red glow, and the whole room seemed to darken. A vortex of red light slowly formed, the stone at it's locus, and Hunter yelled to his friends,

"Watch out! This is no ordinary force! Stay sharp and keep your eyes on the stone!"

The vortex swirled faster, wailing souls came out of nowhere and flowed into the rock, their cries so wretched and despairing that the party winced with the pain of the departed. Then, a flash of red lightning, the souls made their exodus from the stone, and the vortex of light faded. The Cardinal was gone, in his place was the horrid beast, one of the twelve devils of Lucavi, Queklain.

'Bwa ha ha ha! You pitiful worms! Your death cries shall be my music, your frail bodies my instruments! Come now!"

The strange fold on Queklain's stomach opened to reveal a gaping maw of nasty sharp pointed teeth. An anguished cry came forth, and Rad fell down, asleep, while everyone else had a strange feeling that the Grim Reaper wasn't too far away. Ramza cried for his allies to slay him quickly. Agrias charged forward, pouring all her being into Holy Explosions, the waves of holy power tearing the abomination's flesh. Trent, unable to leap in the cramped space, simply lunged at the beast with his lance, spinning the point of it into him as a massive drill. Ramza simply hacked and slashed at the putrid flesh mound, and Hunter came up with something special.

"Oh it's on now demon! Thunder Omega!"

Hundreds of tiny balls of lightning converged on the beast, and ripped into it with a massive blast of heat and electricity, almost a kind of Thunder and Flare hybrid. Queklain quickly smashed Trent on the head, and turned to pummel Ramza when a stone hit him in the head. Everyone turned, to see Rad wide awake, and turned again as the air seemed to vibrate.

"What the fuck? Killed by a rock? But I'm a fucking demon! I'm immortal! Graaaahahah!"

The grotesque form of the beast was vaporized in an explosion of red light, and after it faded, the Scorpio stone fell to the floor, flickering with spent energy. Ramza picked up the stone, and gazed at it suspiciously. He placed in the pouch with Taurus and turned to his companions.

"Let's get the hell out of here!"

And that's precisely what they did.

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So there we have it, the end of Chapter 2. Not the expected end of that battle huh? Anyway, I won't go straight into Chapter 3, gotta have an interlude of some kind. 

I shall return.


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